LeBron James moved on from dead weight in Miami

LeBron James had this thing under control the whole time. (Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports)

LeBron James is looking skinny these days, which usually happens to people when they go TO Miami.

No nips or tucks are reported, however. And it isn’t because James wants a receding waistline to match his hairline.

Perhaps James figures he no longer needs to bulk up to carry dead weight. The new Cavaliers will have more cav-alry for James than Miami did in 2010-11.

That was a more tumultuous change of address for James. Granted, “The Decision” does not seem as brazen anymore, with everybody’s lives on TV or the Internet, and with Shaquille O’Neal devoting a half-hour to the official “Shaqtin’ The Fool” championship announcement.

But when the celebration stopped, Miami had too many dots for James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to connect.

In the 2011 playoffs, Wade averaged nearly 39 and a half minutes, Bosh 39.7 and James 43.9. The Big Three scored 66.8 points a game in that 21-game run, and the Heat as a whole scored 92.8. The outnumbered Heat still made it to Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

In 2012, Bosh only played 14 of the 23 postseason games, but Mario Chalmers was much more prominent, and Shane Battier and Mike Miller were there to help. The Heat won that title, and then Ray Allen and Chris Andersen parachuted into Miami in 2013 for another ring. That year, James, Bosh and Wade averaged 53.9 of Miami’s 97.1 points in the playoffs.

Still, the Heat were sliced and diced in 2014 by a communitarian San Antonio team that had no player averaging 30 minutes in the regular season.

In Cleveland, James will divide the labor with Kevin Love, who turns 26 in September, and scored 26.1 points a game for Minnesota in only 36.1 minutes per game. He’ll be the best rebounder with whom James has played. Then Cleveland wisely signed Shawn Marion to help Love. Andersen Varejao is still there at center.
Love’s outlet passing to James and/or Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters could make the Cavaliers more exciting than Miami ever was.

Better? That depends on how well they commit to defense, which is up to coach David Blatt. But James’ low-carb diet is a fine first step. Now, if he can only find some gluten-free beef on weck.